Laphroaig 10 year old is the first whisky I ever drank, together with my father who was quite impressed and had to let me taste it. It must have been somewhere just before the arrival of the euro, yes people very long ago, because at the end of a vacation in Italy (my parents went to Italy every year), he spent his last Lires on this bottle. Not only was he impressed, but so was I. And from then on my whisky journey started.
It was mainly the peated whiskies (Islay mostly) that interested me at the time, but my palate has changed over the years. Of course, I can still enjoy a peated whisky, but maybe a little less the ones that come from Islay. For instance, I often find the Laphroaig core range a bit disappointing or the ones that I do like are simply too expensive. However, that is different when we talk about the annual editions of the Cairdeas or the 10-year-old cask strength batches. And although I no longer buy these every year, I still find it worthwhile to purchase them from time to time.
So today I am back with batch 010 of the Laphroaig 10 year old cask strength. This was the 2018 release and has matured in seasoned charred oak barrels and is bottled at a strength of 58% ABV.
Laphroaig 10 year old batch 010 tasting notes:
Nose: Peat! Who would have guessed that. 😉 Seaweed, iodine and bandages. Followed by a sugary sweetness, sweet honey. There’s vanilla. And then brine and a hint of diesel oil.
Taste: Ahh yes, kinda raw. The peat is here of course. There’s tar., some ash. But besides the rawness, there’s also an underlying layer of sweet honey. A hint of brown sugar. A bonfire. And it’s a bit medicinal towards the end. A fair amount of Liquorice. Later also oranges.
Finish: Lingering, with minerals, peat and kinda sweet.
Another fine batch, but definitely not my favourite. It gets a bit too sweet in the taste and finish for me. That kind of sugary sweetness which I’m not too fond of. It’s somewhat taking over here, so it’s losing some points here for me.
Photo credit: Whiskybase
